NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Stock Falls 5.4% – What’s Next?

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)’s stock price traded down 5.4% during mid-day trading on Monday. The stock traded as low as $99.85 and last traded at $98.1950. 265,305 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 2,737,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NRG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised NRG Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $203.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $221.00 to $216.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.21.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.17, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $20.97 billion, a PE ratio of 26.29 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.59.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $7.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.31 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 52.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. NRG Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.900-9.900 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 8.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.4750 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, CAO Gerald Alfred Spencer sold 1,580 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.93, for a total transaction of $191,069.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $751,338.09. The trade was a 20.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NRG. Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new position in NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $2,014,000. Tema ETFs LLC grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 1,481.8% in the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 59,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,726,000 after purchasing an additional 55,968 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC acquired a new stake in NRG Energy in the second quarter worth about $6,456,000. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 60.1% in the first quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 372,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,585,000 after purchasing an additional 139,748 shares during the period. Finally, Oaktree Capital Management LP bought a new position in NRG Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $7,165,000. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About NRG Energy

NRG Energy, Inc is an integrated power and home services company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company produces and sells electricity through a diverse generation portfolio that includes natural gas, coal, nuclear power, renewable energy and battery storage. NRG serves wholesale and retail energy markets, with operations and customers primarily in the United States and Canada.

Through retail brands including Reliant and Direct Energy, NRG provides electricity, natural gas and related energy products to residential, commercial and industrial customers.